


Lessons

by scar-and-boomerang (Y_Woo)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Toph Beifong, Coming of Age, Gen, Growing Up, Light Angst, Pre-Canon, Toph Being Awesome, Toph is a BAMF and I stan, small bean toph, small toph
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-27 03:49:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21112178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Y_Woo/pseuds/scar-and-boomerang
Summary: An eight-year-old Toph, pretending to learn earthbending at home and may have just accidentally learnt another important skill instead.





	Lessons

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I took this out of my daemons ATLA AU and edited all the daemon stuff out to post as a regular, pure ATLA ficlet for a wider reader. I do not own ATLA or any of its characters.

“Widen you stance, Toph, and make sure your elbow is at a ninety-degree angle.”

Toph pulled her feet apart and held her arms back, as per Master Yu’s instructions. Bringing her fist forward in front of her, she opened her dominant hand and pushed her palm out to complete the basic kata they’d been working on that morning. In front of her, the large boulder crawled a couple centimetres forward.

“Very good, dear! Next time, make sure your knees are bent flexibly but firmly, to absorb more strength from the earth and channel that through your chi, and out of your pushing palm.”

For her, earthbending lessons with her tutor at home had taught her more about acting and theatre than actual bending. Most her concentration went into how to make it look as if she had been putting all her strength into the movement, yet not sending the boulder flying across the courtyard as she was perfectly capable of doing.

She took her stance again, feet wide, knees bent, elbows back by her side, and launched an arm forward once more, adding a subtle slowness to the movement to help her control the speed of the rock but not detectable enough for Master Yu to suspect she wasn’t putting full effort into the exercise. When the rock rolled forward lazily, she pretended to groan in frustration.

“Now now, pupil, patience. It definitely went faster this time, that’s progress! Well done.”

Footsteps approached from down the corridors, which she recognised to be her father’s. Tensing silently, she fought the urge to not greet him before he had announced his presence as he walked closer to them, stopping beside her earthbending teacher, who bowed respectfully. Instead, she turned her concentration to another set of earthbending katas.

Finally, when Toph purposefully made her rock move faster and more forcefully than before - though only a little, calculated bit - her father cleared his throat, making his presence known.

“Father!” The little girl exclaimed in feigned surprise, turning her head in Lao’s general direction, missing the mark by just a small angle. Again on purpose, of course, as she knew exactly where every strand of hair in her father’s beard was.

“Well done, Toph. I’ve been watching you for the past couple of exercises, you displayed commendable attitude and determination in learning the moves.” Her father commented, and Toph noticed how he carefully avoided noting her skills or proficiency.

“Mr Beifong, Sir, if I may?” Master Yu interjected tentatively, continuing with more confidence after Lao’s nod for him to go on. “Toph has advanced significantly since she discovered her earthbending abilities three months ago, and has progressed more rapidly than most of my students, save for the occasional prodigies. You should truly be proud of her, Mr Beifong, Sir.”

Toph listened to this report with interest, knowing she didn’t appear nearly as good as her master described, she’d made sure of it. She’d only revealed her earthbending ability a couple months ago, that much had been true, pretending to “discover” them more than a year into learning earthbending from the gentle creatures in the mountains behind her parents’ back. But when he reported her progress, she could feel a slight tremor in the ground, which she followed with her feet through the concrete of the courtyard, up his legs, and settling in his lungs.

_Interesting._

“Hmm,” Lao pondered, reacting to this news. “That is indeed great to hear, I am very proud of you, Toph.”

There it was again, the tremor through the earth, only from under her father’s feet this time. Her face remained passive as she honed in on the particles of earth in contact with the man, receiving signals of the movement. Lungs, drawing deeper, more forceful breaths. Heart, pumping faster, frantically, irregularly. Legs, shifting subtly in discomfort.

“However, I do feel… concerned about the safety of my daughter during your lessons, Sifu.” Lao Beifong continued, and the tremors ebbed away slowly the longer he carried on. “As you know, because of her…condition, I could never dream of my daughter becoming a master in her art. To give her false hope and lead her on to attempt higher level… activities will only encourage her to be reckless and get hurt. For now, my wife and I would prefer it if you just lead her through the basics as a means to distract and enrich her life.”

Master Yu bowed deeply once again. “Of course, Mr Beifong, Sir, we will proceed entirely as you please and command.”

Toph could feel her fingers twitching in annoyance. Not only were they talking about her as if she wasn’t there at all - _she was blind, not deaf!_ \- but her father had stated outright that he didn’t believe his daughter could amount to anything. Enrich her life? This was earthbending, not cross-stitching, and she was not some old lady in need of entertainment in a retirement home!

“What do you think Toph?” Lao asked, turning to address his daughter directly at last, “this doesn’t mean you can slack off in lessons, and I want you to try your best. But I think it’s the best course of action, for your own good.”

She wanted to jam her foot into the concrete in response, and knock her earthbending teacher into the air. _Never becoming a master?_ She could take on any master, even now. She had been learning earthbending from the original source, far more original than the stuck up, sycophantic old man her father hired. She wanted to yell that she did not want to be a helpless little girl all her life, and the more they shelter her away, the more potential danger they were putting her in.

What were they planning on doing, locking her away her entire life? Just because she couldn’t _see _the world, doesn’t mean she didn’t want to explore and navigate it in her own unique way. Instead of helping her search for a solution, her parents had been segregating and repressing her like a shamed disease.

_Don’t_, she told herself, barely reigning in her hotheaded stubbornness. _They don’t know about the badgermoles, and you don’t want to lose that. Right now, you can still learn earthbending properly, but if you lose control, you might not get to ever again._

“Of course, father.” She answered, bowing her head in obedience as she knew her parents expected and wished her to. Her entire life at home, it seemed, was a big theatre class.

Lao grunted, a hint of affection in his voice. “Your mother and I love you very much, Toph, we hope you always know that. I’ll let you get back to your lessons.” He added, addressing her earthbending tutor, and then turning to leave.

_Love,_ sure, she had never doubted that. But there was no pride, no trust, no hope to it. It was like caring for a sick koala-otter cub knowing it was too weak to make it through its first winter - you smother it with affection and make it as comfortable as possible, but you don’t teach them the necessary skills to survive, fend for itself. It was empty, pitying love, and Toph could feel the weight of the sad gazes boring into her every day even if she couldn’t see her parents’ face.

A rough grip landed on her wrist and she jumped, irritated at herself for being too wrapped up in her melancholy to sense her teacher approaching. She fought the urge to shake his hand off her arm as he led her onto the patch of grass in the middle of the quadrangle.

“Come on,” Master Yu said patronisingly, “let’s work some breathing exercises before we wrap up for the day. You remember your counts?”

“Yeah. You didn’t mean it when you agreed, did you? We can still do the advanced katas?” Toph probed, it never hurt to try roping more people into her ever growing _lie to her parents to unleash her full potentials_ campaign.

“You heard your father, young pupil,” Master Yu reminded her, voice unlike the honeyed, fawning tone he took on when Lao Beifong was around to hear it, “until he decides, you will stick to the basics to be safe.”

“Whatever happened to progressing faster than most of your students.” Toph grumbled as she took a seat on the grass, crossing her legs and bringing her palm, face up, to her knees.

“Your father is wise, dear,” her tutor lectured, “it’s not as if you will need the advanced set of skills as a necessity. Not to mention some requires visual coordination to be completed, which will be impossible for you to learn. No need to feel down, however. The disciplines and philosophies found in the most basic forms can be channeled into your life even without earthbending, and will come far more useful to you than advanced manoeuvres.”

_One day, she will prove them all wrong._


End file.
